"Rockdale, my hometown, is Texas' heart and significant part of its soul," George Sessions Perry wrote in his book, Texas: A World Unto Itself. Perry wrote with lifelong affection about his hometown, first as a novelist and later as a magazine journalist. He describes the pioneers of Rockdale as typical of restless Southerners who hitched their wagons and moved to Texas after the Civil War. . . . Clay Coppedge . . .

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Thursday, July 12, 2012

1912 :: Milam County Fair Begins

Dallas Morning News, July 12, 1912. Rockdale, Tex., July 11. -- The fifth annual fair of the Milam County Fair Association opened here today under the most auspicious circumstances. The attendance is not less than 12,000 people today. The fair was opened with a monster street parade, more than half a mile in length, with dozens of gorgeously decorated floats, headed by the Queen and her ten attendants. A feature of the parade was more than 100 members of the Milam County Boys' Corn Club in double line, each boy carrying a large green cornstalk. The opening address at the pavilion was delivered by Judge E.B. Muse of Dallas. All exhibits are full. The agricultural display is particularly good this year, notwithstanding the fact that the season is several weeks late and the fair being held about a week earlier than usual. The corn exhibit is one of the most interesting ever shown in Central Texas. The stock arena and poultry pens are also well filled, and altogether the fair is the best ever held. About 100 race horses are here, and the card is particularly strong, with nearly $2,000 hung up in purses.